Guest column: Amp up access to end AIDS - Opinion - The Diamondback - University of Maryland

"Just last week, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the largest multilateral funding organization for HIV/AIDS interventions, cut new grants until 2014. In this uncertain climate, the international community must employ a full arsenal of innovative practices so we can be the AIDS-free generation. One such tool — open access — is part of a growing movement that could play a key role in promoting global health equity....In international health, these open access principles can mean the difference between life and death. Medical facilities and universities in developing nations often cannot afford journal subscriptions to obtain the latest research results, even when their own patients are the study subjects. For AIDS, this knowledge gap spells disaster — 97 percent of affected people live in low- and middle-income countries, and best practices regarding optimal treatments and prevention methods evolve rapidly. Without this information, physicians are at a disadvantage when treating their HIV/AIDS patients....And open access isn't just for HIV/AIDS patients abroad. As students and taxpayers, we fund research that we must later pay to read about in journals. To provide us with access to these resources, the university library system spends more than 30 percent of its annual budget on databases and serial subscriptions. But as journal costs continue to rise and financial resources diminish, educational institutions across the country have had to cut back on subscriptions, presenting an impediment to student and faculty research and learning. This university [the U of Maryland] recognizes the current model is unsustainable and unjust. In April, university President Wallace Loh signed University Senate legislation urging dialogue between all stakeholders regarding the complexities of open access and the development of a university policy on the issue. We commend the university for this important step and, considering the significant implications open access has in global health, urge our academic community to consider the role open access may play in ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. If we encourage the uninhibited flow of knowledge, World AIDS Day 2012 will present a much brighter picture for the millions around the world living with HIV/AIDS."